Avocado Discovery May Point to Better Leukemia Treatment

SciTechDaily ^ | MAY 22, 2021

[nickcarraway]

A compound in avocados may ultimately offer a route to better leukemia treatment, says a new University of Guelph study.

The compound targets an enzyme that scientists have identified for the first time as being critical to cancer cell growth, said Dr. Paul Spagnuolo, Department of Food Science.

Published recently in the journal Blood, the study focused on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is the most devastating form of leukemia. Most cases occur in people over age 65, and fewer than 10 per cent of patients survive five years after diagnosis.

Leukemia cells have higher amounts of an enzyme called VLCAD involved in their metabolism, said Spagnuolo.

“The cell relies on that pathway to survive,” he said, explaining that the compound is a likely candidate for drug therapy. “This is the first time VLCAD has been identified as a target in any cancer.”

His team screened nutraceutical compounds among numerous compounds, looking for any substance that might inhibit the enzyme. “Lo and behold, the best one was derived from avocado,” said Spagnuolo.

Avocado Discovery Leukemia Treatment A compound in avocados may ultimately offer a route to better leukemia treatment, says a new University of Guelph study. Credit: University of Guelph

Earlier, his lab looked at avocatin B, a fat molecule found only in avocados, for potential use in preventing diabetes and managing obesity. Now he’s eager to see it used in leukemia patients.

“VLCAD can be a good marker to identify patients suitable for this type of therapy. It can also be a marker to measure the activity of the drug,” said Spagnuolo. “That sets the stage for eventual use of this molecule in human clinical trials.”

Currently, about half of patients over 65 diagnosed with AML enter palliative care. Others undergo chemotherapy, but drug treatments are toxic and can end up killing patients.

“There’s been a drive to find less toxic drugs that can be used.”

Referring to earlier work using avocatin B for diabetes, Spagnuolo said, “We completed a human study with this as an oral supplement and have been able to show that appreciable amounts are fairly well tolerated.”

Reference: “Very long chain fatty acid metabolism is required in acute myeloid leukemia” by Matthew Tcheng, Alessia Roma, Nawaz Ahmed, Richard William Smith, Dr, Preethi Jayanth, Mark D. Minden, Aaron D Schimmer, David A Hess, Kristin Hope, Tariq Akhtar, Eric Bohrnsen, Angelo D’Alessandro, Al-Walid Mohsen, Jerry Vockley and Paul A. Spagnuolo, 15 March 2021, Blood. DOI: 10.1182/blood.2020008551

This study was funded partly by the Leukemia Research Foundation, the Cancer Research Society and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

Spagnuolo co-authored the study with U of G PhD students Matthew Tcheng and Alessia Roma, former PhD student Nawaz Ahmed and technician Preethi Jayanth. Other co-authors are researchers at the University of Waterloo, Western University, McMaster University, the University of Colorado and the University of Pittsburgh.

The U of G team also worked with clinicians at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

The girls would turn the color of an avocado
When he'd drive down the street in his El Dorado

[Beowulf9]

So does this mean eating avocados would help a person who has Leukemia?

[Blood of Tyrants]

I would guess that you would have to eat a lot of avocados to get a theraputic level.

[HighSierra5]

What ever you do don’t swallow the pit. You’d forget all about leukemia.

[al baby]

Ripe avocados are a wonderful personal lubricate

[BozoTexino]

Man, I love them but so expensive. Wish I could grow them.

[Flaming Conservative]

Can they be frozen? If so, buy when cheap and freeze. (Probably have to add citric acid to keep green.)

[BozoTexino]

I don’t know but I’ll check on that. I do know that Wholly Guacamole brand has some sort of proprietary process that keeps theirs fresh in a bag for a while.